The aftermath of an airstrike in Sana’a, the Yemeni capital. Women and children were among a dozen people who died in the attack, which was allegedly perpetrated by the Saudi-led coalition.
Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPA

Human rights groups have urged the UN to establish an independent inquiry into abuses during the Yemen conflict, which has spiralled into the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The UN human rights council has verified the deaths of more than 5,000 civilians since the outbreak of war in March 2015, although the actual number is likely to be significantly higher. The conflict has devastated Yemen’s infrastructure and economy, leaving at least 8,719 people wounded, 7 million on the brink of famine, and an estimated 540,000 suffering from cholera.

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In a letter addressed to the UN human rights council, a coalition of 62 NGOs warned that serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law are being committed with impunity.

“The Saudi Arabia-led coalition has conducted scores of unlawful airstrikes … that have killed thousands of civilians and hit schools, hospitals, markets, and homes. The Houthi armed group and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have fired weapons indiscriminately into populated areas in Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia and used explosive weapons with wide-scale effects,” wrote the signatories to the letter.

Parties to the conflict are also recruiting child soldiers, preventing the delivery of aid and harassing activists and journalists, said the NGOs.

The conflict in Yemen began when the Saudi-led coalition launched a campaign in support of the president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized parts of the country including the capital, Sana’a. Yemen’s infrastructure and public services have since been decimated, while 20.7 million people are in need of humanitarian support or protection.

John Fisher, Geneva director at Human Rights Watch, one of the letter’s signatories, said governments should not cave in to political pressure. “Human rights council member countries should live up to their own mandate, heed these calls, and put in place a body to begin chipping away at the impunity that has been a central facet of Yemen’s war,” he said.

The letter is singed by local and international organisations including Amnesty International, Care, International Federation for Human Rights, Reprieve, World Organisation Against Torture, Yemen Humanitarian Forum and Yemen Peace Project.

Dr Jean-François Corty, director of international operations at Médecins du Monde, another signatory, said an independent inquiry would increase pressure on the UK, France and other countries supporting the Saudi forces.

Aid access is blocked, the economy has collapsed, a blockade prevents food from getting in and infrastructure is damaged

Colin Walker, War Child

“[France and the UK] are supporting a coalition which does not respect human rights,” he said. “The human rights council is another opportunity to [publicise] information and remind the public that what is going on in Yemen is very serious.”

Corty, whose team runs mobile health clinics and distributes medical supplies in Yemen, said there is a desperate shortage of food and medical care. “It’s very difficult … to provide humanitarian and medical facilities, because of security issues,” he said. “Something like 50% of the health facilities are not available now, for many reasons, parts have been destroyed by the conflict, medical staff have not been paid.”

Corty, who added that the targeting of hospitals had made hospital staff afraid to report for work, also emphasised the increasing difficulty of accessing clean water and food items, which are hard to import because of a blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition.

Colin Walker, head of advocacy and policy at War Child, said that while the charity normally provides education and safe spaces for children, the situation in Yemen is so dire that the focus is simply on ensuring children have food to eat.

“Access to aid is regularly blocked by all parties to the conflict, the economy has collapsed, the blockade has prevented food from getting in and out and the infrastructure has been significantly damaged,” said Walker.

“At the main ports, such as Hodeidah, the cranes that are used to unload supplies from the ships were destroyed by the Saudi-led coalition, so the infrastructure is creaking. It makes it very difficult for us to operate.”

NGOs have repeatedly warned that the situation in Yemen will deteriorate further unless the international community acts. War Child, though not a signatory to Tuesday’s letter, is calling for the UK government to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and for Saudi Arabia to be included on the UN’s annual “list of shame” for violations against children. Last year, Saudi Arabia appeared on the list only to be removed a few days later, following furious protests from Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia’s sensitivity to criticism showed that international pressure could make a difference, said Walker. “This isn’t just a report, it really shines the spotlight on a country and puts them under an awful lot of pressure to amend their conduct. If you think about the other groups that are regularly listed in this report when it comes out, you’ve got groups like Isis, the Taliban, al-Shabaab, Boko Haram – we know Saudi Arabia does not want to be spoken of in the same breath as those fairly horrendous non-state actors.”

The list, which is expected within weeks, will also put pressure on the UK government to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia, Walker added.